Abstract:
Introduction: The COVID-19 vaccine is regarded as a crucial and affordable component of management and prevention measures for the disease. Due to the COVID-19 vaccine's lower level of public acceptance, the entire world has experienced difficulties, including Ethiopia. Although substantial progress is being made, there are still significant obstacles to public acceptance. However, determining the magnitude of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Jimma town has not been done up to yet.
Objective: This study aims to assess COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and associated factors among communities in Jimma Town, Oromia region, Ethiopia.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 629 adults in Jimma town from July 15 to August 15, 2022. A multistage sampling technique was employed to get a representative sample. Face-to-face interviews were used to collect data. The collected data were checked, coded, and entered in Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was done to identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance; a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Finally, the results were presented with tables, figures, and text.
Results: A total of 607 participants completed the study which gives a 96.5% of response rate. More than half (54%) (95% CI: 48.8–58) of the study participants were willing to have the COVID-19 vaccination. source of information from international media (foreign channels) (AOR = 1.602; CI: 1.027, 2.500; P = 0.038) and colleagues and friends (AOR = 1.923; CI: 1.176, 3.145; P = 0.009), Perceived severity (AOR = 1.751; CI: 1.171, 2.616; P = 0.006), perceived barriers (AOR = 2.580; CI: 1.740, 3.825; P = 0.001), perceived benefits (AOR = 2.501; CI: 1.699, 3.683; P = 0.001), self-efficacy (AOR = 1.476; CI: 1.021, 2.133; P = 0.038) ), good knowledge (AOR = 1.523; CI: 1.042, 2.227; P= 0.030), and favorable attitude (AOR = 2.222; CI: 1.510, 3.270; P= 0.001) was positively associated with willingness of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.
Conclusion: More than half of study participants were accepting when a COVID-19 vaccine is available in Ethiopia. Therefore, multipronged efforts are needed to build vaccine literacy and confidence to increase the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine.
